SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING AND UTILIZING ELECTRONIC PROGRAMS GUIDE INFORMATION

• US 20100186042A1
• Filed: 12/14/2009
• Published: 07/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/1990
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Rovi Technologies Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rovi Technologies Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Sokolik, Konstantine, Warden, David P., Alegiani, Giambattista A., Kochy, Jeffrey J., Ebright, Alan R., Roop, John H.
• Application Number:
  US12/637,549
• Publication Number:
  US 20100186042A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/50
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 15/006 for operating at a number of different times cigar or cigarette receptacles or boxes with means for limiting the frequency of smoking A24F15/005
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 15/023 remotely controlled
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/41 Flat as opposed to hierarchical combination, e.g. library of tapes or discs, CD changer, or groups of record carriers that together store one title
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/10 Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/107 of operating tapes
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/11 by using information not detectable on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/3054 Vertical Interval Time code [VITC]
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/324 Duty cycle modulation of control pulses, e.g. VHS-CTL-coding systems, RAPID-time code, VASS- or VISS-cue signals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26283 for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic program guide data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4353 involving decryption of additional data arrangements using cryptography for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/23
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4586 Content update operation triggered locally, e.g. by comparing the version of software modules in a DVB carousel to the version stored locally deployment, distribution, installation, update of software G06F8/65; error detection or correction of the data by redundancy during software upgrading G06F11/1433; arrangements for updating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/25
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/475 : End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 : End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 : involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 : specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 : Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/858 : Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 : on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/025 : Systems for the transmission of digital non-picture data, e.g. of text during the active part of a television frame transmission of digital non-picture data during the vertical blanking interval only H04N7/088
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/088 : the inserted signal being digital
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0884 : for the transmission of additional display-information, e.g. menu for programme or channel selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0887 : for the transmission of programme or channel identifying signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0888 : Subscription systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 : Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 : Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

Television schedule information transmission and utilization systems transmit TV schedule data and associated network control messages provided by computer as packets via the Video Blanking Interval (VBI) lines in the TV signal from various television program providers. This data is acquired by regional data processing systems and forwarded by the regional data processing systems to subscriber units and used to construct an internal database. This internal database can be accessed by the subscriber unit to display a TV schedule for the channels that are received by the user'"'"'s TV.

Claims

1-24. -24. (canceled)

25. A method of updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving commands via a television telecast signal, wherein the commands are of variable length, and wherein a command includes command data and the television schedule information data used by the command;

responsive to receiving the command, reading a portion of the command data from the command to determine whether a command type associated with the command is recognizable;

storing the television schedule information included in the command if the command type is recognizable; and

skipping over the command if the command type is not recognizable, wherein skipping over the command comprises;

determining the length of the command from the command data; and

ignoring the television telecast signal for the length of the command.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising displaying a portion of the television schedule information stored in the memory.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the storing step comprises:

reading another portion of the command data to determine a location in the memory; and

storing the television schedule information data at the determined location in memory.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

receiving a region command comprising a list of channel IDs corresponding to valid channels for the subscriber system; and

storing one or more of channel data, show lists, show titles, and show descriptions for a channel in the memory if the channel ID for the channel is in the list of the received channel IDs.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

receiving a show list command containing a name of a television program;

comparing the name of the television program to a show list maintained in the memory;

saving the show title command in the memory if there is a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list; and

ignoring the show title command in the memory if there is not a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein the command data comprises a batch number used to send commands to at least one subscriber system sharing the same batch number, and the determining step comprises determining whether the batch number in the command data matches a batch number associated with the subscriber system.

31. A method of updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving television schedule information data including an associated identifier via a television telecast signal;

determining whether the received television schedule information data is recognizable based on reading the identifier;

storing the received television schedule information data and the associated identifier in the memory if the received television schedule information data is recognizable; and

ignoring the received television schedule information data and the associated identifier if the received television schedule information data is not recognizable, wherein the ignoring step comprises;

determining the size of the received television schedule information data; and

skipping over the television telecast signal for the size of the received television schedule information data.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the determining step comprises determining whether the television schedule information data has already been received.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein the received television schedule information data is organized into one or more commands, and wherein each command comprises command data and a portion of the received television schedule information data, and wherein storing the received television schedule information data included in each command comprises:

reading the command data from the command to determine the instructions of the command; and

storing the received television schedule information data at a location in the memory determined based on the command instructions.

32. (canceled)

33. (canceled)

36. A system for updating television schedule information data in a subscriber system included in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, comprising:

a decoder for receiving commands via a television telecast signal, wherein the commands are of variable length, and wherein a command includes command data and the television schedule information data used by the command;

control circuitry configured to;

read a portion of the command data to determine whether a command type associated with the command is recognizable;

store, in a memory, the television schedule information data included in the command if the command type is recognizable; and

skip over the command if the command type is not recognizable, wherein skipping over the command comprises;

determining the length of the command from the command data; and

ignoring the television telecast signal for the length of the command.

37. The system of claim 36, further comprising a display for displaying a portion of the television schedule information data stored in the memory.

38. The system of claim 36, wherein the control circuitry configured to store the television schedule information comprises circuitry configured to:

read another portion of the command data to determine a location in the memory; and

store the television schedule information data at the determined location in memory.

39. The system of claim 36, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive a region command comprising a list of channel IDs corresponding to valid channels for the subscriber system;

store one or more of channel data, show lists, show titles, and show descriptions for a channel in the memory if the channel ID for the channel is in the list of the received channel IDs.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive a show list command containing a name of a television program;

compare the name of the television program to a show list maintained in the memory;

save the show title command in the memory if there is a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list; and

ignore the show list title command if there is not a match between the name of the television program and any entry in the show list.

41. The system of claim 36, wherein the command data comprises a batch number used to send commands to at least one subscriber system sharing the same batch number, and the control circuitry configured to determine whether to store the television schedule information data comprises circuitry configured to determine whether the batch number in the command data matches a batch number associated with the subscriber system.

42. A system for updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, comprising:

a decoder for receiving via a television telecast signal television schedule information data including an associated identifier; and

control circuitry configured to;

determine whether the received television schedule information data is recognizable based on reading the identifier;

store the received television schedule information data and the associated identifier if the received television schedule information data is recognizable; and

skip over the television telecast signal for the size of the television schedule information data if the television schedule information data is not recognizable.

45. The system of claim 42, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine whether the television schedule information data has already been received.

46. The system of claim 42, wherein the received television schedule information data is organized into one or more commands, and wherein each command comprises command data and a portion of the received television schedule information data, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to read the command data from each command to determine the instructions of the command, and wherein the portion of the received television schedule information data included in the command is stored at a location in the memory determined based on the instructions of the command.

43. (canceled)

44. (canceled)